And so, especially, do the neighborhoods on the city's east and west sides that have been plundered by murder and other violence for decades.

Mayor Dave Bing's ambitious neighborhood restructuring program, with its focus on density and targeted services, promises more than just about anything for Detroiters weary of the city's sky-high murder rate.

Of course, it has to deliver on that promise, which has been a challenge for Bing not just with Detroit Works, but with all of his initiatives.

Nearly two years after Detroit Works was announced, for instance, none of its original goals of hollowing out some areas and packing people into others has materialized.

If the mayor can get Detroit Works back on track, though, it could be a game-changer in the battle against violent crime. Creating healthier, denser neighborhoods will make it easier for the city's strapped police department to patrol, and to build the community-based relationships that both deter crime and create the trust that breaks through the "no snitching" culture.

Stronger neighborhoods will also strengthen community-based efforts to attack murder at its root causes. More densely populated neighborhoods are more likely to support and draw benefits from anchor institutions like churches and community centers -- institutions that weave and protect the fabric that binds city residents together.

Talk to people in the city's most beleaguered neighborhoods -- the ones with prairie-like gaps up and down the blocks -- and what you'll hear is a pining for the kind of cohesiveness and support that existed when there were more people and houses, more eyes and ears.

Detroit Works, if it could redefine areas where that's possible, would be a huge step in the right direction. But Bing will need to restore its focus.

The program kicked off with energy and enthusiasm, with hundreds of Detroiters showing up to discuss what the city might do, and what the possibilities might be for their neighborhoods.

There has also been a ton of talk about large-scale urban farming and other ideas to repurpose the vast tracts of unproductive land in the city.

But after a year of work groups and consultants and planning, the mayor announced that he was re-directing Detroit Works' focus. The city is now concentrating on "demonstration" areas, where it will determine what levels of service can be provided, and what impact they have on quality of life.

The mayor has gone back and forth between embracing the idea of creating density by incentivizing residents to move, and shying from the notion that anyone will have to be uprooted. Most Detroiters remain untouched by the program.

But if there's anything to learn from the stories of families devastated by killings, from neighborhoods shattered by violence, and from a city desperate for a leader to tilt against those ills, it's that Detroit Works' original mission should top the mayor's agenda.

Bing can make a huge difference for Detroiters by delivering on Detroit Works' big promise.

Stephen Henderson is editorial page editor for the Free Press and the host of "American Black Journal," which airs Sundays at 1 p.m. on Detroit Public Television, channel 56 in Detroit. Contact Henderson:shenderson600@freepress.com or at 313-222-6659

We welcome your thoughts on the "Living with Murder" series. Join the conversation in our comments section. We also invite you to share your questions and experiences in our live chat at noon Wednesday. The chat will focus on strategies residents can use to curb crime in their neighborhoods.